With the rise of remote work and travel, it’s important to know the general rules for employees who work and travel internationally as โremote workersโ.
Many countries allow remote work, as long as the employee does not perform any work for a local company. This has given rise to a large number of individuals seeking to experience living in new places while maintaining their job in the country of origin.
Here are a few important points to consider as an employer permitting remote work abroad:
1. If your employees are traveling for personal reasons, it is not the responsibility of the employer to obtain their immigration/visa document.
Employer sponsored work visas are not applicable for remote workers who are performing work for a company incorporated outside of their host country. As such, the employee will need to pursue the relevant visa for themselves based on their own merit (e.g. qualify for a digital nomad visa).
2. Setting expectations and policies as an organization around remote working is important.
Policies can include the following: responsible party for costs, period of stay abroad permitted, time zone/working hours restrictions, etc. We usually recommend a formal global mobility policy be put in place with a section specifically dedicated to remote working abroad.
3. Review the implications for your employee when it comes to health insurance and taxation.
Some digital nomad visas will require local health insurance in the host country and will often subject the visa holder to local taxes and social security contributions, unless paying these contributions from the country of origin (reqs. will vary).
Countries with a digital nomad visa category
Costa Rica ๐จ๐ท
Portugal ๐ต๐น
Malta ๐ฒ๐น
Greece ๐ฌ๐ท
Mexico ๐ฒ๐ฝ
Spain ๐ช๐ธ
Estonia ๐ช๐ช
Croatia ๐ญ๐ท
Saint Lucia ๐ฑ๐จ
Brazil ๐ง๐ท
Mauritius ๐ฒ๐บ
Bali (Indonesia) ๐ฎ๐ฉ
Georgia ๐ฌ๐ช
Thailand ๐น๐ญ
Bahamas ๐ง๐ธ
Taiwan ๐น๐ผ
Aruba ๐ฆ๐ผ
Dubai ๐ฆ๐ช
Seychelles ๐ธ๐จ
Montenegro ๐ฒ๐ช
Panama ๐ต๐ฆ
Iceland ๐ฎ๐ธ
Italy ๐ฎ๐น
Norway ๐ณ๐ด
Serbia ๐ท๐ธ
Turkey ๐น๐ท
Antigua and Barbuda ๐ฆ๐ฌ
Barbados ๐ง๐ง
Anguilla ๐ฆ๐ฎ
Cayman Islands ๐ฐ๐พ
Bermuda ๐ง๐ฒ
Montserrat ๐ฒ๐ธ
Curaรงao ๐จ๐ผ
Dominica ๐ฉ๐ฒ
Colombia ๐จ๐ด
Hungary ๐ญ๐บ
Czech Republic ๐จ๐ฟ
Cabo Verde ๐จ๐ป
Malaysia ๐ฒ๐พ
Romania ๐ท๐ด
Argentina ๐ฆ๐ท
Cyprus ๐จ๐พ
Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป
Germany ๐ฉ๐ช
South Africa ๐ฟ๐ฆ
Belize ๐ง๐ฟ
Grenada ๐ฌ๐ฉ
The Netherlands ๐ณ๐ฑ
Ecuador ๐ช๐จ
New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ
Namibia ๐ณ๐ฆ